IC2944 - The running chicken nebula in Centaurs

IC2944 in located in the constellation of Centaurus. IC 2944 is also known as the Running Chicken Nebula is actually an open cluster with an associated emission nebula. The bright star in the picture is Lambda Centauri.
The dark spots in the above picture are not photographic defects but an unusual type of interstellar cloud known as a Bok globule. Bok globules, named after astronomer Bart Bok who studied them extensively, are small dark clouds made of gas and dust that are typically condensing to form a star or stars.